


Crossing Oceans

by thetruemiraclequeen



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - No Miraculous, F/M, Fluff, Marriage, Mermaid Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Merman Adrien Agreste, Ms. Bustier's Class - Freeform, Mutual Pining, Pirate Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Pirates, Romance, Weddings, but as pirates, mermaid au, slight DjWifi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25337524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetruemiraclequeen/pseuds/thetruemiraclequeen
Summary: Five years after leaving the Ancestral Home of the mermaids, Captain Chat Noir of Le Cataclysme is forced to return, taking his entirely-human crew with him. While going home would usually be a good thing, Chat can't help but feel nervous. Because going home means reuniting with a certain blue-eyed mermaid he promised he'd marry years ago.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 46





	Crossing Oceans

Captain Chat Noir of pirate ship _Le Cataclysme_ , to put it lightly, had seen some _shit_ in his days. He’s been in his fair share of skirmishes and battles and gotten enough stab wounds to know not to make puns in a pub full of drunk sleep-deprived pirates. But this? Sailing into a storm while being chased by an armada of Imperial ships? This had to take the cake.

Chat held tightly to the wheel, squinting in the darkness of the inky black storm clouds as rain pummeled down on _Le Cataclysme._ He could barely see two feet in front of his face, much less the end of the ship. He was navigating blind, relying on instinct alone to get him and his crew out of danger.

“Captain!” someone shouted over the roaring winds. Nino, his first mate and best friend, made his way into Chat’s field of view. “Captain, we have to turn back. There’s nothing out there but more storm. If we keep going the way we are, we’ll sink for sure.”

“Would you rather I deliver us into the hands of the army?” Chat said over the sound of the wind, jerking the wheel sharply to the left. “We have to keep going. We’re going to make it. We just have to keep going.”

“Make it where?” Nino yelled.

Chat blocked him out, focusing entirely on saving his crew and his ship. _Come on, where are you?_ He glanced down at his ring. It was a simple black metal band with five green gems at the center in the shape of a pawprint. Most would assume the gems to be emerald, but he knew better. They were far more precious than emeralds could ever be.

_Come on,_ he begged the ring. _Give me a sign._

He gritted his teeth and stirred the to the right, barely cresting a wave in the process.

The gems on his ring began to glow.

_There it is_. Chat grinned, his confidence growing. They were close.

Unfortunately for them, that also meant the storm got worse.

“The Imperial ships! They’ve turned back!”

Chat glanced up at Alix, perched on the mast, holding tightly to one of the ropes. She pointed behind them to where the Imperial fleet was indeed retreating. Chat almost laughed. They thought the storm a guaranteed death for him. The fools had no clue what was truly beyond the storm. And Chat would keep it like that for as long as he lived and then some.

A collective victory cry rang out from his crew in celebration. Chat didn’t join them. Escaping the chase of the army’s ships was their first priority, yes, but that was only one monster down. The storm had yet to be faced. And he intended to defeat it.

“Stay at your posts!” Chat commanded. “This isn’t over.”

There was a chorus of “yes, Captain’s” and pride burned in his chest over his crew, his family.

When Chat had left home with the intention of exploring the world and discovering more about his father, he never expected to become one of the most famous and feared pirates of the seven seas. It had all started by accident.

Chat, having not understood the etiquette and customs of the human world, had offended a Lord on his first day exploring. He’d apologized, of course, but the buffoon of a Lord, dressed in too much jewelry for Chat to take him seriously, hadn’t accepted it and ordered his execution. It was only his wit that saved Chat that day, and he’d escaped on a stolen ship a criminal and a new pirate.

His career had only blossomed from there as Chat had discovered he _liked_ the pirate lifestyle. He’d eventually gained some notoriety after completing numerous heists and recruited people along the way. Chat had met Nino, first. At the time, Nino had been the apprentice of a local blacksmith in his coastal village. Chat had stopped at his village in dire need of supplies and had hit it off with Nino easily. The two became quick friends in their short time together, and by the time Chat’s luck had caught up to him, he and Nino were being chased out of the village and sent on their merry way as new pirate duo.

Alya had joined next, the middle daughter or a pair of nobles soon to be wed to a man she didn’t know or care to ever meet. Chat and Nino had found her sneaking out of her manor when they’d been staking out the place for a future heist. In exchange for accompanying them on their journey, Alya granted them knowledge of her family manor’s layout and helped them raid it for valuables. The three had grown close since then, bound together by their shared journeys and experiences.

After Alya came Kim. After Kim, Alix. Then Max, Juleka, Rose, and so on and so forth until “the lone pirate Chat Noir” became “the fearsome pirate captain, Chat Noir of _Le Cataclysme._ ”

_Le Cataclysme_ was Chat’s pride and joy. He’d stolen her from Lord Agreste while making a pitstop in the coastal region of France where Chat had hoped to find out more about his father, only to come up empty-handed. So far on his journey, he’d learned his father was a Frenchman, but that was where Chat’s knowledge stopped.

That had been a year ago and it seemed Lord Agreste still wasn’t ready to forgive him for stealing the ship, having sent fleet after fleet after Chat Noir and his crew in hopes of stealing back _Le Cataclysme_. Which was how he had ended up in this situation, chased by Lord Agreste’s fleet into the heart of a storm and toward the one place Chat Noir had been avoiding for five years. But to get out of the storm and save his crew, he’d face his fears head-on.

The closer they got, the brighter Chat Noir’s ring glowed, a compass pointing towards home. Chat felt his stomach turn nervously and he swallowed. What would he even say when he got back? “Sorry I was gone for five years, I swear I meant to come home after a few months, but the human world beckoned me and I couldn’t resist sailing around aimlessly”? He doubted that would go over well. Especially with a certain fiery blue-eyed girl that had captured his heart since the moment they met all those years ago as children.

His ring grew brighter as if to mock him. It was time.

He felt the Mist before he saw it and shuddered at the overwhelming feeling of _magic_. There had been magic in the human realms, but never this much, never all at once. The Ancestral Home was the most magical place in both the Sea and the Surface World, a place where both could live in harmony.

Fearful cries began rippling across _Le Cataclysme_ as his crew started noticing the presence of the Mist. It soon overtook the ship completely, a thick fog swallowing them whole.

And the, sunlight. Chat blinked as his eyes readjusted to the light. They were through the Mist. Chat had enough sense in him to remember to call out, “Lower the anchor!”

“What? Captain, you can’t be serious—” Nino called.

“Just do it!” Chat shouted, feeling the panic set in. Any minute they’d be found out. Any minute. Any—

Just as the anchor finished lowering, the ship started to shake.

“Everyone hold onto something!” Chat ordered.

His crew obeyed, grabbing onto the mast, the ropes, the side of the ship, anything. He ignored his own order, sprinting to the front of the ship as quickly as he could without slipping in the water. When he reached the front, he shouted down at the ocean below, in his native tongue, “We’re friendly, hold your attack!”

_Le Cataclysme_ stopped shaking. Chat forced his fingers into tight fists. This was it.

Out of the water rose a single mermaid—a border guard of rank, he noted as his took in her general’s headpiece, a ring of pearls and shelves intricately woven together into a band that wrapped around the head, a single sea gem dangling from it at the center of her forehead. The seagem was a shade of magenta—she was from the tropical regions, then. He didn’t recognize her, so he guessed she was from a pod he never met.

“You’re a pirate,” the general said, speaking up to him with narrowed eyes. “How do you know our tongue?”

Chat Noir could feel the eyes of his crew on him as he began to speak a language they’d never heard before. “I was born in the Ancestral Home but ventured out several lunar cycles ago. It wasn’t my intention of returning this early, but my crew and I were being chased by a human fleet and this was the only option I could see of escape.”

The general showed no emotion, no sign that she believed his tale, but asked. “Are you the captain of this vessel?”

“Yes, general. The humans call me Chat Noir, but my given mer title is Adrien,” he said with a nod.

His reference to her title finally stirred something in her. First shock, then wonder, then pride.

“Then can you vouch for your crew? The untrustworthy are not allowed in the Ancestral Home.”

Chat Noir glanced over his shoulder at his crew, registering a couple fearful and awed faces.

“I will vouch for them. But understand, our visit here was by accident. I hadn’t even informed them of my mer lineage and they are unaware of our customs. I will see to it as best I can that they understand the rules should you allow me a chance to explain it to them.”

The general appeared thoughtful. “One moment,” she said before diving below the surface.

Chat held his breath, not daring to look away from the spot she’d disappeared from until she returned. When the general surface, she did so with a smile. “Welcome back, to the Ancestral Home, Adrien. Tikki awaits your return and looks forward to meeting your crew when you dock.”


End file.
